Fencing weevils and spiders that change colour...

I've been looking out for some fantastic little weevils that usually appear with,or soon after, the first hazel leaves. This year,as with many invertebrates,they were somewhat later than previous finds. But...on a superb spring day that saw rising temperatures recently, I spotted my first...

These are hazel leaf-roller weevils (Apoderus coryli) and although I've yet to find evidence of this (a task for this year) they get their name from the way that adult females roll the edge of a hazel leaf and lay eggs in the cradle it creates.

I did also witness something of a first for me regarding the behaviour of these beetles. I found what seems to be two males,both intent on mating with the same female (although,I'm not sure either was) and this involved lots of posturing by the males. They seemed to be almost 'fencing' with their antennae with heads raised and I am sure they were both sort of, clicking their heads/neck joints as well.

I attempted to capture it on the camera......just a very short clip that is a pretty poor effort but gives you some idea.....

I have read somewhere that the extended length of the head of these weevils may be associated with this activity.

I fully intended finding a female engaged in leaf rolling last spring but failed to do so and will double my efforts this year and hope that I'm lucky.

On a different note-I have not yet added to my moth trap finds. I have set it up twice in the past few weeks but sadly, the first occasion yielded just one (although a rather nice one that I've not had before and will add soon) and the second time, nothing! Not a single specimen, not even any flies.wasps or beetles....today is May 28th and I ran the trap again last night for just a couple of hours and have yet to check it out, so watch this space...

The woods where I found the weevils have been pretty productive for me over the last few visits and beneath the same hazel tree where I witnessed the 'weevil porn' I noticed this looper caterpillar hanging from a very delicate thread. It was spinning and wriggling and seemed to be trying to make its way back up to the leaf above,rather than down to the ground.

The soldier beetles are about now as well....

Again, this was on hazel and I think it's probably Cantharis pellucida but there are several similar ones including C.nigra and C.lateralis. I have a key somewhere to these and really should look it up.

From the same area came this fantastic looking crab spider...

This one seems to rejoice in the name of....'Common crab spider' and does appear to vary quite a lot in its markings (if I have the i.d. correct) with males having a very odd way of mating with females. He will grab hold of a female's legs and hold her until she stops struggling, then ties her down with threads of silk and finally, crawls underneath her to mate-how romantic!

My best find in this woodland though has to be this dragonfly. Not only is it just the second I have seen this year thus far (the other being a four spotted chaser) but is a first for me not only in these woods but anywhere locally....

Again,it's not the best shot but it was not settling for long and when it did, always in bright sunlight. I was very excited to see this one though as I am reasonably sure this is a Downy Emerald Dragonfly (Cordulia aenea) and looking at the abdomen shape a female. I think it is a fresh one too; the eye colour is bright.apple green in mature ones and this muddy brown in immature dragonflies.

I have only ever seen common darters, ruddy darters and southern hawkers at this site until now and after such a bad winter and cold spring, it really did make my day to find this 'newbie'. You can be sure I shall be looking out for more sightings and hoping for better photographic opportunities too. I think this makes three years in succession that I have discovered something new to me in these woods now. 

Misumena vatia

This spider (above) I do recognise. It is one that is common enough and quite easy to spot,unless it does its clever trick of changing colour to match the foliage. It can take a few days to effect a colour change but can vary from white to yellow, through to green.

Finding caterpillars is getting easier with each passing day it seems-here's another....

And another...

This one is not a caterpillar but a sawfly larva...

A the last for now...the tiniest you could imagine. I watched this emerge from an egg and photographed it soon after. It's a moth larva and was probably around 2mm at best...

Plenty of weevils to be found now and a real treat to find something out of the ordinary,or at least, different to the ones that I usually see...

Not actually sure about species here because of the mottled colour. Sitona or possibly Phyllobius? So many weevils,so little time!

To end this update I'll return to those woods where I have been finding lots of nice things this spring. Despite reading that butterfly sightings are well down again, I have found that locally at least, we do seem to be having a reasonable year and certainly well up in numbers and species from last year's appalling results...

A Large White Butterfly

Okay...more to come very soon including the results of last night's moth trapping.

Until the next time...

Scary or cute? Both actually...

It's been a while since I featured a spider on the blog and so working on the premise that a spider every time might be too much, but one every now and then is fine, I'm going to risk the wrath of the arachnophobes  and begin with one today...

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO FOR A LARGER IMAGE

Misumena vatia (m)

The other thing to consider is that this is the first time that I've seen the male of this species and in relation to the females, they are very small:only around 3-4mm and so there's nothing to be scared of?

What a fabulously marked head though-look at the pattern above and below the eyes, it looks almost like a skull?

Misumena vatia (f)

Here's a female of the same species-by comparison, huge at 9-11mm. These are the ones that have evolved the trick of being able to change their colour to match the flower they sit on to wait for prey and although I believe they can only change from white to yellow, as long as they stick to the two flower colours (and they always do in my experience) then it's a clever trick.

More?
...........O.K. if you're sure? This next spider could easily be mistaken for a nursery web spider but is actually another crab spider. It does have a similar habitat to the nursery web but it's a different species altogether.

Tibellus oblongus

Called Oblongus for obvious reasons, I think the size of the abdomen here indicates that it's a male. These are found amongst tall grasses and often stretched out like this at rest.

Shall we move away from spiders now? No!....you'd like to see at least one more? Well, if you insist, you really are insatiable!

Diaea dorsata

Yet another crab spider but what a beauty! These brilliant little things can be found on the leaves and branches of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs;they're only around 5mm or so and so you may need to look hard to find one-go on, you know you want to!

I have got even more crab spider photographs to share?.......No? Maybe next time then?

Let's move on to caterpillars then. I'm not 100% on this one but fairly sure this is the larva of a moth called The Sprawler (Asteroscopus shinx) and if so, it's another first for me.
I found it feeding on oak and the size certainly matches at around 50mm and the markings seem right too. The other thing that makes me think the i.d. is correct is that this caterpillar has a habit of throwing it's head back when threatened, and that's exactly what this one did. It's a real brute of a larva this one and was a treat to find and photograph.

I also found a couple of looper caterpillars recently and although I haven't had a chance to put an identity to them yet, thought I'd add them all the same and I'll update the information as soon as I can....
These are natural light shots and taken in the rain at that and so the quality isn't quite what it should be (he said making excuses for himself.)

Having a quick look through my reference book, I think perhaps the first one is a Mottled Umber larva and the second possibly a Scalloped Oak but really will need to check this out as very often the first choice for i.d. turns out to be incorrect with further examination.

To complete this update I want to bring you something different. I don't get to take many shots of animals and birds, not because I have no interest but I just don't have a lens that is good enough right now. I wish I did because it would open up another world for me and I do see some interesting things that I'd love to have a go at photographing.

Anyhow, what I can bring you is something that'll tug at your heart strings for certain. If it doesn't then you need therapy!

Friends who live in Canada were recently presented with a very young grey squirrel that had fallen from a pine tree. Apparently friends of theirs had found the little one and waited for a parent to recover the pup but none came and so they took it home with them.

Having kept it overnight, I suppose they realised they didn't know how to care for it properly and that perhaps my friend Cathy, who has a number of other animals, might be better placed to do so.

Cathy told me that she would have liked to try and raise the little one herself but with a baby in the house and also already caring for a hedgehog, she decided to pass it on to somebody who could offer professional care and would be able to cope with the regime of 2 hourly feeds that it required.There is also the added risk with a baby in the house that these young animals could well be harbouring mites, ticks and fleas.

In these photos, her daughter Megan is trying to warm the youngsters by holding it in her hands-temperature is very important at this age and they can easily become dehydrated too. I'm not sure exactly of the age of this one but my guess would be around 4-5 weeks based on the hair covering-not sure if it's eyes were open, but probably not, in which case it could be less than 4 weeks?

All pictures courtesy of Cathy Rowcliffe

I'm not sure how things are in Canada but there's a whole debate here about these greys being vermin and I know there are vets that won't even treat them. In fact there are vets here who are reluctant to treat any wildlife! But that's another debate.

I'm having none of the 'vermin' nonsense, there's room for us all and we are all equal in my eyes.

That's about all for now, until the next time.....

Stop press: Latest news today from Cathy in Canada:

I got brave tonight and phoned and checked on the baby squirrel, the first night was rough as he was so dehydrated but they used pedialyte for the first few feedings then tried really hard to make it want to take the kitten milk replacement ( KMR), finally it worked and the little guy is doing well. We will have to pop over to check on it soon... they mentioned we could give it a bottle as they are having so much fun doing it... though not getting much sleep as it eats every two hours.